Honored to be Top 10 Business Book for Fractional COOs by ATLATL Business Solutions
Coming Late 2026
The Gap - Business Fiction at its finest, an homage to The Goal
What Roger Alexander thought would be a straightforward leadership transition quickly becomes something far more dangerous. Boone Packaging isn’t failing. Orders are shipping. Machines are running. The financials look disciplined. The monthly reviews are polished. But one of the company’s most important customers is quietly walking away—and no one inside Boone fully understands why.
As Roger digs deeper alongside a skeptical CFO, an exhausted operations team, and a controller who has spent years questioning the numbers she reports, he uncovers a troubling reality: the systems designed to measure performance may actually be driving the company in the wrong direction. Pricing decisions justified by accounting logic are destroying customer trust. Efficiency improvements are creating operational strain. Departments are protecting themselves while weakening the enterprise as a whole.
What begins as an effort to save a customer relationship becomes a much larger confrontation with the hidden assumptions shaping the entire business.
Written in the spirit of The Goal and The Phoenix Project, The Gap is a powerful leadership novel about the space between what organizations report…and what is actually happening. It is a story about operations, finance, trust, identity, and the dangerous moment when intelligent people begin mistaking measurements for reality.
For CEOs, CFOs, COOs, founders, operators, and leaders who have ever sat through a meeting explaining why the numbers looked good while the business felt wrong, The Gap will change the way you see your company forever.
Introducing Five of the Biggest Assumptions that Build the Gap.
Block One — Labor is a capacity cost, not a variable cost
In most manufacturing environments, labor is purchased in blocks — shifts, crews, trained operators — and the actual flexibility is far narrower than the P&L implies. Decisions made on the assumption of labor variability produce outcomes that assume a flexibility the business doesn't actually have.
Block Two — Absorption costing punishes capacity and distorts pricing
When budgeted volume is set conservatively, every unit carries more fixed cost than necessary, prices rise to compensate, demand softens, volume falls further, and the next budget assumes even less volume. A self-reinforcing distortion loop where the business optimizes for the budget rather than for the market.
Block Three — Carrying cost orthodoxy destroys strategic inventory advantage
Inventory financed from operating cash, positioned strategically, can create customer responsiveness, purchasing leverage, and production flexibility that generates more economic value than the carrying cost extracts. The conventional penalty applied to inventory discourages the creative positioning that vertically integrated businesses are uniquely positioned to exploit.
Block Four — Transfer pricing creates fictional internal markets
When internal businesses charge each other market prices, the integrated enterprise captures none of the economic advantage of vertical integration. Every internal transaction stacks another layer of margin that the end customer eventually absorbs. The business competes against external suppliers while paying itself external prices.
Block Five — Optionality as strategic paralysis (the three-box structure)
A business structured for optionality — the spinoff, the carve-out, the investor who wants clean segment reporting — never develops a coherent identity. The three-box structure at Boone prevented the business from fully becoming what it actually was. The neutral paint colors analogy: a home decorated for resale never becomes a home.
Do Business Better Academy
Operations Finance - 2027
Project Planning and Justification - 2027
Project Planning and Justification - 2027
This module equips operators and leaders with a clear understanding of how their daily decisions impact financial performance, translating accounting concepts into practical operational insight. It connects inventory, production, and cost behavior to the financial statements, enabling better decisions that drive profitability and cash flow.
Project Planning and Justification - 2027
Project Planning and Justification - 2027
Project Planning and Justification - 2027
This module walks leaders through the full lifecycle of a project—from identifying opportunities to building a compelling business case and securing approval. It emphasizes how to evaluate assumptions, risks, and financial impact so projects deliver the returns they promise, not just the ones they project.
Pricing and Profitability - 2027
Project Planning and Justification - 2027
Pricing and Profitability - 2027
This module challenges traditional cost-based thinking by contrasting standard costing with next-unit economics, showing how true profitability is driven at the margin. It reframes pricing as a market-first decision, then aligns cost structure and revenue models to support sustainable, scalable profit.
About DO BUSINESS BETTER
C-Level Operations Executive
Jay David is an Author and Business Turnaround leader with deep experience in Operations, Cost Management, and Organizational Performance. He has worked across a wide range of industries, helping companies move from instability to sustainable performance by questioning accepted practices and focusing on execution. His ideals come directly from real situations, real consequences, and real outcomes.
Providing you with a Clear Path on how you can DO BUSINESS BETTER
Author
Jay David took an unconventional path to business leadership, moving from college dropout and restaurant manager to accountant, operations executive, and ultimately Chief Operating Officer of a $300+ million manufacturing enterprise. Along the way, he rebuilt failing operations, navigated Chapter 11 bankruptcy, led large-scale plant consolidations, executed complex integrations, and delivered sustained profitability and growth across multi-site organizations in the U.S. and Mexico. His career spans cost accounting, strategic finance, operations leadership, and turnarounds within founder-led, private-equity, and Fortune 500 environments, including Nabisco and Kraft Foods. Today, as founder of Do Business Better, Jay helps companies scale from entrepreneurial beginnings to disciplined, profitable growth by bridging the gap between finance and operations—drawing on hard-earned lessons from the road less traveled.
Testimonials
Scott Williams - Executive Search - Food Manufacturing
I recently represented Jay as a candidate and I cannot recommend him highly enough. With 30+ years of experience, he literally wrote the book on business transformation, seemlessly connecting high-level financial strategy with on-the -ground manufacturing realities.
Beyond being an operational powerhouse, what truly sets Jay apart is his human-centric leadership. Whether managing 3,500+ employees as COO or rebuilding team morale during a crisis, he leads with genuine empathy. Aside from being a top-tier executive, he is simply a top guy who cares deeply about his people. Any company would be incredibly lucky to have him.
Lincoln Smith - VP of Operations - Flagstone Foods
I've been fortunate to work with and for Jay in different capacities and can attest to his extremely effective leadership style and success in business turnaround situations. Jay is a leader who constantly pushes for business growth and challenges the entire organization to be better. His dual finance and operations background enhances his approach to improving profitability through world-class manufacturing best practices, all while prioritizing people at the center of operations management and focusing on team development. Jay brings invaluable financial expertise, knowledge, and professionalism that could assist any organization in enhancing their consulting services and achieving better financial results.
Andrea Hogue - CPMM, LSSBB - Sr. Plant Director - Ventura Foods
I had the pleasure of working with Jay for 2 years, and we have stayed connected since. During this time, Jay served as a mentor in my transition from an operations management role to becoming a plant manager, which was pivotal for my mindset shift towards strategic leadership. He guided me on business growth through focused improvement efforts, people engagement, and establishing an organizational structure that fostered team development.
Even more than this, Jay possessed remarkable vision regarding enterprise strategy. His financial expertise in budgetary principles and pitfalls is second to none. While working with Jay, I gained a fresh perspective on operations management and the role of consulting services in achieving a successful business turnaround.
He truly helped me elevate my game. Some of the best advice and support I’ve received in my career has come from him, reinforcing the importance of effective cost management and strategic guidance.
Harsh Tayal - Digital Transformation Evangelist, Technology Visionary, Entrepreneur
Jay is an exemplary leader whose contribution to business growth in the workplace is truly commendable. He stands out not only for his exceptional leadership skills but also for the profound respect he commands from his team.
Working alongside him, I have witnessed firsthand his exceptional strategic leadership, operational management, and facilitation skills, particularly in supporting the team with IT initiatives. Jay not only ensures the availability of necessary resources but also actively participates in crucial meetings and decision-making discussions, adding significant value with his financial expertise and insights.
What sets Jay apart is his approachability and mentorship, making him an invaluable asset to any team. His easy-going nature fosters smooth collaboration, whether you're a seasoned professional or a newcomer. Jay's leadership style is both inspiring and motivating, focusing on team development and effective cost management. His dedication to both his work and his team's growth is truly admirable, making him an ideal leader in any consulting services environment, especially during business turnaround scenarios.
